SPLASHING OUT IN FNQ

Aussie tourists love Tropical North and spend record $2.1b

NEARLY two million Australian visitors have pumped a record $2.1 billion into the Tropical North Queensland economy over the past year, according to new data being released today.

Visitor numbers of 1.9 million are nudging closer to the two-million mark, up 6.6 per cent from 1.82 million, for the 12 months to March, 2018. They spent $2.1 billion, up 11.6 per cent from $2.036b.

It represents a turnaround from three months ago when numbers had dropped by 4.2 per cent to 1.8 million.

The growth, based on Bureau of Tourism Research surveys, was primarily driven by the holiday market with a million visitors, up 12.7 per cent.

People travelling to visit friends and relatives rose by 3.9 per cent to 422,000 visitors but business travel fell by 17.8 per cent to 367,000 visitors.

Both intrastate and interstate markets contributed to the overall growth. Intrastate travel rose by 8.3 per cent to 1.2 million visitors, while the interstate market grew 3.7 per cent to 674,000 visitors.

Melbourne was a popular source of travellers, up by 25.4 per cent year on year.

Member for Cairns Michael Healy said domestic visitors were “the bread and butter of the region’s tourism market”.

“We’re working hard not only to drive more visitors to Queensland but to attract the right kind of tourists,” he said.

“The fact that visitor expenditure is at an all-time high in the tropical north, just goes to show this strategy is working.”

Tourism Minister Kate Jones said Queensland had set tourism expenditure records for the 10th consecutive quarter. She said 21.8 million domestic overnight visitors injected $16.2 billion into the state’s economy over the past year.

“Much of our growth in the latest round of data is driven by the holiday market as well as the business sector,” she said. “This data also shows that Queensland remains a favourite destination for Australians, with holiday expenditure increasing in total by 5.5 per cent to a record $7.4 billion.”

Ms Jones said the government was “committed” to growing Queensland tourism.

“That’s why we’re investing an extra $180 million in this term of government to develop new tourism attractions and attract more direct flights to Queensland,” she said.